shaede assassin 05 - shadows at midnight Read Online Free PDF Page B

stool.
    “So will I,” Ty said pointedly. “When it comes to you, Darian, I’m always available.”
    I couldn’t admit—even to myself—as I left The Pit that his words were the most comforting thing I’d heard in a long damned time.

CHAPTER FOUR
    “Wake up.”
    The air left my lungs in a whoosh! as a booted foot made contact with my gut. I coughed and spluttered; my vision blurred as I came instantly awake. Tears stung at my eyes as I longed for the dream of my past that had given me respite. But I refused to let Padma see my distress. I’d die before I gave that bitch the satisfaction.
    Cool magic snaked around my wrist, the ring’s presence stronger than it had been since I’d been brought to this prison. I moved to twist it, a habit I’d developed over the years, but before my fingers could make contact with the silver, I was jerked upright by two of Padma’s guards. They dragged me through a series of tunnels into a large room with a domed stone roof. They’d kept me underground for god knew how long. In a tomb I was no doubt bound to be buried in. Padma climbed several shallow steps to an ornate throne that sat above the floor on a sort of dais. She looked so regal, so soft and beautiful with her hands folded demurely in her lap. I couldn’t help the derisive snort that escaped my lips. A wolf in sheep’s clothing if I’d ever seen one.
    She brought her fingers up and snapped, the crisp sound echoing off the walls. A moment later, the sound of footsteps shuffling on the dirt floor came from behind me. Some new torture, perhaps? I steeled myself for what was about to come.
    “As you can see,” Padma’s smooth, sweet voice announced, “she’s alive.”
    “I should decimate your entire race for what you’ve done.”
    My heart leapt into my throat at the sound of Tyler’s voice. My breath fogged in the sudden cold and I shivered. This wasn’t like Padma’s illusions. It was so…visceral. Ty’s voice held none of the apathy it possessed when he berated me. In fact, it was so full of icy rage that the air thickened with it. Never had I felt the chill of magic envelope me in the presence of an illusion. I wanted to look, to turn my head and see what was behind me, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. This was a test, she wanted me to look. To lose myself to the illusion. I couldn’t let her win, not when I was already so close to breaking once and for all.
    “I don’t doubt that you’d do just that if it was within your scope of power.” Padma practically purred with self-satisfaction. “But not even you can accomplish such a feat. Your Synod would deliver a swift end to your existence on this plane or any other.”
    Padma had never engaged in conversation with one of her own illusions before. She was messing with me. “Shut up!” I screamed as I went to my knees. “Shut the fuck up!” I couldn’t take another second of this. I wanted her to kill me and get it over with.
    “Alive, but not unharmed .” Ty’s voice was a cold burn that I felt right in the center of my soul.
    “I never guaranteed the condition she’d be returned to you in. That she’s alive shows my benevolence.”
    Tyler snorted.
    I squeezed my eyes shut. A violent tremor rocked me from head to toe and I couldn’t do a damned thing to quell it. The illusion was too real and it was a sure sign that I’d finally cracked. There was no returning from madness.
    “Rakshasa don’t know benevolence,” Tyler remarked.
    “But the Jinn do?”
    The temperature dropped another ten degrees or so and my teeth chattered from the cold. “I gave you what you wanted,” he replied. “Now give me what I want before I show you exactly what I’m capable of.”
    “Take her.” My head jerked upright and I stared at the demon queen. She gave a haughty flick of her wrist. “I’ve had my fill of her.”
    My stomach turned at her words as fear trickled into my bloodstream. The footsteps moved closer and I shied from the sound.